A gun battle erupted at the Church of the Nativity on Thursday, just hours after fire engulfed parts of the besieged compound during another fierce firefight. A Palestinian policeman holed up in the shrine was killed, Palestinians said, and another man was wounded.
The latest fighting erupted during Greek Orthodox Easter week, a day before Good Friday, according to the Orthodox calendar.
According to AP, the latest exchange of fire broke out Thursday afternoon. Journalists attending a briefing by the Israeli military nearby heard exchanges of fire lasting for several minutes.
The dead man, identified as Mohammed Abed, a 22-year-old policeman, was carried out of the church on a stretcher by priests. Later, a Palestinian wounded in the fighting and an 18-year-old civilian who had fallen ill, were also evacuated.
The Israeli military said it had reports of four wounded Palestinians, including two who refused to come out of the compound.
In Jerusalem, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, the papal envoy, met Thursday with Israeli President Moshe Katsav and was to hold talks later in the day with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to try to resolve the standoff.
"I come to ask that everything be done ... to solve as soon as possible the tragic situation of Bethlehem and that the Basilica of the Nativity be restored to God," Etchegaray said after his meeting with Katsav.
"The church is in danger because both sides are armed," said Archbishop Aristarghos, chief secretary of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. He said Christian leaders and the Israeli government agreed "every effort should be made to reduce the tension."
Palestinian negotiators called on Thursday for more talks with Israel on ending the month-long standoff. "We told the coordinator (of talks) to set up a meeting today with the Israelis but there has been no answer from the Israelis so far," Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser told Reuters. (Albawaba.com)
